Penicuik boss admits lifting Junior Cup is just pipe dream

Harvey was part of the Bathgate Thistle side of 2008 who went all the way as they defeated Cumnock in the final at Rugby Park.

He regards his winners’ medal as the pinnacle of his footballing career and although he would love nothing more than repeating the feat as a manager, he recognises there is no expectation on Penicuik to do so.

“It was definitely my biggest achievement as a player,” said Harvey. “It’s the holy grail of Junior football, it’s what everybody aspires to try and win. It’s what everybody talks about. I would argue you get more publicity out the Scottish Cup than winning the Super League.

“We can only dream of getting that far with Penicuik at this moment in time. It’s huge for the club just to make sure we are in it beyond Christmas then we’ll see what happens after that.

“I wouldn’t say it’s an expectation of anyone at the club to win it or to get to the final. I certainly don’t expect us to go and win the Scottish Cup, I just expect us to give a good account of ourselves and we’ve got a chance of having a good run in the cup.

“Anybody can’t beat anybody on any given day and if we have luck in terms of the games that we play there’s no reason why we can’t, but there’s certainly no expectation.”

Penicuik were handed a favourable third round tie at home to North Division outfit Scone Thistle, but Harvey insists they won’t be taking their place in the last 32 for granted.

He added: “It’s a game we’re all looking forward to. The Scottish Cup means a lot to a lot of people, especially at Penicuik where the competition is really valued by the club. It’s important we get back to what our form has been.

“It’s not in our make-up to take anybody lightly. Our players have proved that they approach every game in the same manner regardless of who we are playing. We’ve done that continuously this season in cup competitions.

“They’ve got that professionalism about them that they won’t take anybody lightly and they won’t take anything for granted and we’ll have to work for everything that we get. If we don’t, I think we’re well aware that we could get beat.

“On their day the smaller teams can beat the bigger clubs and we just need to make sure that we’re not one of the shock results on Saturday.”